Miller Magazine Issue: 134 February 2021

MexIco 72 MILLER / february 2021 European Union, South America, and Asia. Despite being a producer of corn, wheat, and rice, grains imports in Mexico continue steady growth trends, with expansion in the animal feed sector driving growth for feed grains rather than for food grains. The agribusiness industry in the country has been in continuous and steady expansion, with the agribusiness landscape driven in part by strong consumer demand and a steadily growing middle class. CORN Corn is the major crop in Mexico. It is the largest crop in terms of production and consumption volume. It has for thousands of years been a symbol of Mexican pride, a staple of local and national cuisine. Corn accounts for a large share of the population’s caloric intake and is used to make tortillas and other corn-based foods—a practice that dates back thousands of years. On average, Mexico produces 27 million tons of corn in a year, three percent of global corn production. Mex- ico is largely self-sufficient in white corn used to make the country’s staple tortillas but depends on imports of mostly GMO yellow corn from the United States for live- stock feed. Corn farms in Mexico are small-scale, averaging 3.6 hectares each, and government policies support small- scale agriculture with direct payments and other pro- grams. Although white corn is grown in each of Mexico’s 32 States, 10 States account for 84 percent of produc- tion, and two States—Sinaloa and Jalisco—account for over one-third. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts 27.8 million tons of corn production for the 2020/21 season. According to USDA’s latest Grain and Feed Update report released on 14th January, water availability for irrigation was approximately 27.1 percent below the level registered in 2019 at the national level, which is likely to limit corn production in this crop cycle. BAN ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN Mexico is among the major corn importer countries. The average of corn imports is 17.7 million tons. Corn import is estimated at 17.5 million tons for 2020/2021 season. As the destination for over $3 billion annually in exports of U.S.-grown corn and corn-based products, Mexico is the largest foreign market for U.S. corn farmers in terms of export value and volume. Mexico’s growing livestock and poultry sector increasingly relies on imports of U.S.-grown corn. USDA’s long-term agricultural pro- jections suggest that in the coming decade, consumption of Mexican grown corn will continue to increase due to expanding livestock production. On December 31, Mexico published a final decree in its Mexican Federal Register that bans the use of both glyphosate and geneti- cally modified (GM) corn for human consump- tion in the country. The use of the herbicide glyphosate and GM corn will be phased out by January 2024 at the latest. WHEAT CONSUMPTION DECREASED Along with corn, wheat is among the most important of Mexico's grains. Last season, it produced 3.2 million tons of wheat. USDA’s total wheat production estimates for the